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Trials & Arrests

THE JONATHAN WINTERS SHOW

RECORDING DATE: 12/04/1967

LOCATION: CBS Television City (Stage 43) - Los Angeles, CA

PRODUCTION: Van Bernard/Wintergood Productions

COLOR: Yes

LENGTH: 6:10

HOST: Jonathan Winters

Info:

The Jonathan Winters Show debuts on CBS across the United States and Canada on the evening of December 27th, 1967. Shot in color and airing for one hour, this special premiere of the show features a performance of two songs by The Doors. Along with routine comedy acts by Jonathan Winters, other guests appearing on this first episode of the new variety show include Milton Berle, Ivan Dixon, Barbara Eden, and Red Skelton. Regulars lining the show from its 1967 to 1968 run featured in this episode are Cliff Arquette, Abby Dalton, Alice Ghostley, Paul Lynde, and Pamela Rodgers. The show also features the Robert Banas Dancers and The Paul Weston Orchestra, with John Aylesworth announcing.

The Doors are signed for this premiere in mid-November by producer Sheldon Keller and filming takes place on December 4th at CBS Television City studios in Los Angeles. Directed by Jorn Winther, two songs are performed during this special - Moonlight Drive w/Horse Latitudes partway through the show, and later Light My Fire is presented as an encore on an alternate stage arrangement and setup. In the opening segments of Moonlight Drive, Jim Morrison is filmed wearing sunglasses. Despite Jim Morrison's New Haven arrest taking place just days after the filming, The Doors remain in the lineup for this inaugural episode. During their concert at Winterland in San Francisco on the night of the premiere, band manager Bill Siddons rolls a television onto the stage, putting a temporary halt to the show while the band stops to watch themselves on TV.

Due to the arrest in New Haven five days after the taping of this show, an unknown network cancels an upcoming scheduled performance, and the premiere of the Jonathan Winters Show becomes The Doors last appearance on American television until August 1968 when they return to play on the Hy Lit Show while in Philadelphia for a concert.

Complete copies of this episode exist in broadcast quality in CBS archives as well as on black and white kinescopes. On December 3rd, 1967 a television promo spot is filmed at CBS Studios and likely mentions the upcoming appearance by The Doors on the premiere. In 1985, the performance of Moonlight Drive is released on video in Dance On Fire with the original audio replaced with the studio version and additional unrelated footage added in. An uninterupted copy of Light My Fire was released as a bonus video on the 2012 BR/DVD release Live At The Bowl '68.

Tracklist:
Moonlight Drive > Light My Fire

Photographers:
Unidentified (CBS Staff Photographer)

Broadcasts:
12/27/1967 - CBS 10:00pm - United States & Canada

PHOTOGRAPH:

The Doors Perform On The Jonathan Winters Show © Staff Photographer, CBS